hardscaper
Unique in its simplicity Forest Pennant, the commercial brand of Forest of Dean Stone Firms has completed a public art commission in Bristol, supplying bespoke cut slabs of Pennant sandstone for a reinstated public highway and social space. Forest of Dean Pennant sandstone was specified due to local provenance, sourced from the company’s Barnhill Quarry. Muf architecture/art also considered the Stone Firms’ independent PAS 2050 verification as a criterion. The Gloucestershire-based stone company also supplied a flight of steps with eased edges and non-slip resin infill treads and a back plate for a basketball hoop. Located on Trenchard Street in Bristol city centre, the public realm is narrow, just 18 metres wide and steeply sloping, described as a canyon between new build, 11-storey University of Bristol halls of residence, Orchard Heights and a multi-storey car park. Muf architecture/art was commissioned by Unite Students to treat the space as an opportunity for public art, satisfying Bristol City Council’s
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106 agreement for public art. The challenge was to deliver a bespoke scheme on a site constrained by its topography and on a limited budget. It is a scheme of pared back drama using a very limited palette of stone in the form of raw slabs of Forest of Dean Pennant sandstone, aggregates and plain cast concrete, with simple detailing where one material meets another, and in the design of the hand rails and balustrades,” comments Katherine Clarke, artist partner, muf architecture/art. The practice worked with Bristol City Council’s Public Arts Officer and Planning team to progress the project through planning. Katherine continues, “Natural stone was used to create a landscape of informal seating and to take up the level differences where steps and ramps meet, and to ground the